Mária Telkes was a Hungarian-born American inventor and solar energy pioneer. She invented the first solar still, the thermoelectric power generator, and the solar … Contact online >>
Mária Telkes was a Hungarian-born American inventor and solar energy pioneer. She invented the first solar still, the thermoelectric power generator, and the solar
On Christmas Eve 1948, a family of three moves into a home in Dover, Massachusetts with unusually large windows—the world''s first fully solar house, an idea decades ahead of its time. Nobody had ever tried living in a residence heated only by the sun, much less through a frigid New England winter.
The 800-square-foot wedge-shaped structure, which came to be called the Dover Sun House, had two bedrooms and was built on an insulated concrete slab in the Boston suburb. Eighteen south-facing 10-foot-tall panels on the second floor took in the solar energy, then processed and sent it to the living quarters downstairs. The brainchild of Hungarian-born engineer and biophysicist Maria Telkes, Dover Sun House was developed along with architect Eleanor Raymond, who designed the house and Boston philanthropist Amelia Peabody, who financed the project.
Telkes, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1925, became a recognized pioneer in the field of solar energy. After working at Westinghouse Electric as a research engineer focused on energy conversion, she partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 on a solar energy conversion project that launched her decades-long innovations in harnessing the sun for power. Notable later efforts included a solar oven, funded by the Ford Foundation, and a solar still for converting seawater into freshwater, a U.S. government wartime project. By the time of her death, the "Sun Queen," as she came to be known, had earned more than 20 patents.
Andrew Nemethy, who was a young boy when he moved into the house with his parents in 1948, said this about Telkes in an interview: "She wanted to prove that people could live in this house. She needed people to be the astronauts. I guess you could say we entered a lottery that we never knew that we were entered into and ended up with this wonderful gift of living in this house."
In a 2019 essay for The Boston Globe, Nemethy talked about the solar home''s many quirks, including the daily need to raise or lower the shades that covered the picture windows. Telkes, who called the house the "Model T of the sun-heated houses," used flat-plate air heaters and an experimental heating method involving salt storage that ultimately failed after two winters.
The physical structure of the Dover Sun House succumbed to the passage of time, and the house was demolished in 2010. However, the innovative structure played a pioneering role in the future industry of solar energy, inspiring new generations of scientists, architects and environmentalists.
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Home » Member News » Member Spotlight: Maria Telkes, Biophysicist & Inventor
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look back on the accomplishments of biophysicist and solar energy pioneer, Maria Telkes.
Recognized as one of the foremost pioneers in the field of solar energy, Maria Telkes was the first recipient (1952) of SWE''s Achievement Award. The citation reads: "In recognition of her meritorious contributions to the utilization of solar energy." The holder of more than 25 patents, Telkes has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
A biophysicist by training, Maria Telkes began her work with solar energy as part of the Solar Energy Conversion Project at MIT in 1939. During World War II, she invented a solar distiller that vaporized seawater and then recondensed it into drinkable water. A solar still, her most important invention, was included in the military''s emergency medical kits on life rafts and saved the lives of both downed airmen and torpedoed sailors. It could provide one quart of fresh water daily.
During her years at MIT, she created a new type of solar heating system – one that converted solar energy to chemical energy through the crystallization of a sodium sulfate solution. The Dover Sun House, a prototype home built in 1948, used her solar heating system.
At NYU from 1958-1938, she worked on solar stills, heating systems, and solar ovens. Her solar ovens proved to be cheap to make, simple and easy to build and could be used by villagers worldwide.
Her other innovations included solar dryers and solar thermoelectric systems for use in outer space. Her space-proof and sea-proof materials were used on both the Apollo and Polaris projects. Later, her solar energy innovations were used for Solar One, a solar-heated building constructed at the University of Delaware. After her retirement, Telkes was involved with a second experimental solar-heated house, the Carlisle House.
Jill S. Tietjen, P.E., President and CEO of Technically Speaking, Inc., is a Fellow, Life Member of SWE. She served as the 1991-1992 National President. A member of the Boards of Directors of Georgia Transmission Corporation and Merrick & Company, she has been inducted into the Colorado Women''s Hall of Fame.
All Together is the blog of the Society of Women Engineers. Find stories about SWE members, engineering, technology, and other STEM related topics. It''s up-to-date information and news about the Society and how our members are making a difference everyday.
Maria Telkes, known for her invention of the solar distiller and the first solar-powered heating system designed for homes, was one of the first people to predict the boundless possibilities of solar energy. In 1953, Tekles came to what is now NYU Tandon, and continued to work on solar energy research. Her commitment and efforts to the field gave her the title "Sun Queen."
Women''s History Month is a celebration of women''s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987. Honoring the often-overlooked contributions of women to United States history, this month the Liszt Institute New York is embarking on a journey to shed light on those Hungarian women whose achievements played a significant role in the history of the United States.
In the first iteration of the series, we are delighted to introduce dr. Mária Telkes (1900-1995), the Hungarian biophysicist and inventor who was called the "Sun Queen". Dr. Telkes was a remarkable scientist and technologist whose pioneering work with solar technology and phase change materials (PCMs) laid a foundation of study for scientists today. Although she did not live to see the large scale application of her work with PCMs, she did see the appreciation of some of her other solar technologies, including desalination and cooking applications.
"I was only 11 when a simple school experiment, the melting of sulphur, made me intensively curious about chemistry," Telkes wrote in 1964. "My parents were amused and tolerant, even after a loud but harmless explosion. Avidly reading science books, I was experimenting."
Born in Budapest in 1900 into a well-off family, dr. Mária Telkes graduated from the University of Budapest studying physics and mathematics and earned her Phd in physical chemistry there as well in 1924. After graduation she became an instructor at the institution, but later decided to immigrate to the United States after visiting her uncle, Ernő Ludvig, who served at the time as the Hungarian consul in Cleveland.
In 1925 she accepted a position as a biophysicist for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she worked with American surgeon George Washington Crile to create a photoelectric device that recorded brain waves. Telkes obtained American citizenship in 1937. That same year she became a research engineer at Westinghouse Electric, where she developed instruments that converted heat into electrical energy; however, she made her first forays into solar energy research in 1939.
In 1940, Telkes began a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joining the university''s Solar Energy Conversion Project. Her involvement with this project would put her on a fifty-year path to developing innovative new processes for capturing and deploying solar energy. During World War II Telkes was assigned to the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, and it was there that she created one of her most important inventions: a solar distiller capable of vaporizing seawater and recondensing it into drinkable water. She remained at MIT after the war, becoming an associate research professor in metallurgy in 1945.
While working with MIT she designed a solar heating system for the Dover House, an experimental home designed to showcase the power of solar energy, built in 1948, designed by architect Eleanor Raymond and sponsored by Amelia Peabody. Telkes'' system was able to capture and store solar energy which was then distributed by fans as needed. Her storage process relied on chemistry; she developed a process whereby solar-generated energy could be stored chemically through the crystallization of a sodium sulfate solution.
In addition to this work, Telkes was awarded a $45,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to work on a solar oven. Her oven was to be used by individuals in any country of the world, to prepare any type of cuisine, and to be safe enough to be used by children. In the process of inventing this oven, she also developed a faster way for farmers to dry their crops.
In 1953, a year after she won the first-ever Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award, Telkes moved on to the New York University College of Engineering where she established a laboratory dedicated to solar energy research. From there she returned to industry, joining the Curtiss-Wright Company as director of the firm''s solar energy laboratory. She moved on to Cryo-Therm, working on space and sea-proof materials from 1961 to 1963 before moving on to Melpar, Inc., where she served as director of the company''s solar energy laboratory until 1969. At that time Telkes returned to academia as a researcher at the University of Delaware''s Institute of Energy Conversion.
Dr. Telkes invented many other practical thermal devices until her retirement in 1978, and she kept submitting her patents until she was 90. In 1995 she returned to Budapest to see her beloved city one last time. She passed away there 10 days before her 95th birthday.
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